A year after the former Citicorp announced a sweeping restructuring program, the company has not yet cut half of the 7,500 jobs it targeted 13 months ago.
Citicorp-now part of the newly merged Citigroup-has cut 3,119 employees, or 42% of that goal, according to an 8K document filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Most of the jobs that were earmarked for elimination are in the back office that supports global consumer businesses.
Citi announced the $889 million restructuring with its third-quarter 1997 earnings report. The company said the cost-cutting effort continued after its merger with Travelers Group was completed in October.
Analysts said the program may have been sidetracked by merger-related issues. "Citi might have gotten farther along by now," said George Bicher, an analyst at BT Alex. Brown. "But you could expect the cost-cutting to accelerate now, especially on the consumer side."
Many of the job cuts took place from July through September of this year. During the third quarter, 1,335 job cuts were attributed to the restructuring program.
Citi also said it has spent about two-thirds of the money set aside for the program to date, or about $590 million. Most of that has gone to employee compensation.
Travelers took a charge in the fourth quarter last year related to its purchase of Salomon Brothers. About 60% of the $838 millionset aside for that restructuring has been spent, according to the company's filing.
A Citigroup spokesman has said that the company could reduce its 160,000-member work force by as much as 5%, or 8,000, by yearend.
Most of the cuts would come from the previously announced restructurings at Citi and Travelers. Some will also result from layoffs in corporate and investment banking due to a slowing in those businesses, analysts said.
More than 200 employees have been dismissed from the company's equity and fixed-income units since the end of the third quarter, when Citigroup posted trading-related losses of $522 million.
